African WC Qualifiers Group F – what are Harambee Stars' chances?

The tale of two goal poaching machines – Franck Yannick Kessié (Ivory Coast) Pierre-Emerick Emiliano François Aubameyang (Gabon) – is set to make football an entertaining affair for Group F matches.

Though Ivory Coast and Gabon look the stronger ones on paper, the FIFA World Cup matches has historically proved that anything can happen on the field – something that will be the agenda for Kenya, Gambia, Seychelles and Burundi pooled in Group F.

Pundits are optimistic of Harambee Stars’ chances in this group suggesting they could emerge as one of the tournament’s surprise packages.

Harambee Stars have never played Ivory Coast who are above them in the FIFA rankings (51) and who are considered red-hot contenders in the qualifying campaign. Former Harambee Stars tactician (2008) Francis Kimanzi has said Kenya can pull off some big performances, especially against countries that are considered to be above them on FIFA rankings but this entirely depends on preparations.

“We need to look at many factors, qualification model, FIFA rankings but that said, we need to prepare well and go there as second best, we need to set the ball rolling as early as now,” Kimanzi told Citizen Digital.

In Group F, only Ivory Coast have been able to feature in a FIFA World Cup and that was in Germany 2006, South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014 hence being considered outright to lead the standings at the end of the qualification campaign.

However, Nzoia Sugar assistant coach David Kalamu is of the opinion that if the Football Kenya Federation ensures that these matches are played in Kenya this will be a motivating factor to pick maximum points at home not only against lowly ranked teams but also Ivory Coast – currently none of the stadiums meet FIFA standards.

“It’s possible we can qualify but only if FKF will ensure we play these matches in Kenya, imagine playing Ivory Coast in Kenya? We can beat them here and even the other teams, so we need motivation.”

Kenya is ranked (105), Gabon (85), Gambia (179), Burundi (145) and Seychelles (196).

The first match of the two-legged qualifiers will be played between November 13 and 21 this year.

The winners of each group will directly qualify for the tournament while four best runners-up from the groups will advance to the CAF Play-Off tournament, whose winners shall secure a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.